healthy cleaning products

Simmering Recipes for the Home

I tried various natural DIY air fresheners including the popular Pinterest post on simmering vanilla, rosemary, and lemon.

This method was so-so at producing a noticeable aroma (if you grate the lemon rind before adding it you will get more lemon scent out).

I also tried simmering black tea with spices (cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg), which worked, but it was mild.

Mild can be good for the chemically sensitive!

Food-Based Aromas for the Home

If you cannot tolerate simmering spices to create aromas, but need to have your house smelling good, you can brew coffee or bake cookies in the oven.

This is a wonderful and safe way to add that feel-good feeling to a house that won’t trigger anyone’s allergies.

Potted herbs like basil could produce a nice aroma if you have a good amount of it at full growth. It’s not very noticeable for many people. Other herbs like thyme and oregano have even less of an aroma.

Wood and Plant-Based Aromas for the Home

A natural “mothball” that protects clothing and also produces a pleasant aroma is real cedarwood placed around clothes in the closet.

Folks have said just the wood is enough to protect the clothes from moths.

If you really like the smell of cedar, you can add cedarwood essential oil to the wood. Wood holds on to essential oils nicely. You can also add an essential oil mix with a cedar base.

Eucalyptus branches from the florist have a significant aroma to them. You can make a pretty strong impression in a room with a vase of dried eucalyptus.

I personally like using sweetgrass, which is a traditional Native American plant.

Natural Beeswax Candles

Beeswax candles are an alternative to scented candles.

Even soy candles are not usually suitable for the chemically sensitive.

But beeswax candles have a gentle and more subtle natural aroma that is tolerable for most chemically sensitive folks.

Some beeswax candles have essential oils added for more of a scent.

Removing Malodors, Naturally without Scents

You may also consider removing odors instead of adding scents.

Enzyme Cleaners to Break Down Odors

Strategies like using enzyme cleaners to properly and safely break down and degrade pet odors (and other problematic odors) is a great way to get a proper clean.

Clean has no smell, and even if you are staging the house to sell it, no odor could be a selling point.

Sorbent Materials (Absorb Odors)

To absorb odors, I like charcoal sachets used around the house.

Zeolite absorbs odors and it can be used as a powder that is vacuumed up, or as a spray (I’m not a proponent of those methods because it’s not safe to breathe in zeolite that has been sprayed or dispersed around a room).

It is safer to use in sachets.

Many chemically sensitive people have recommended Deoderoc, which is also made of natural minerals (possibly zeolite) and is reported to work well.

Mineral Technologies to Break Down Odors

1. ZorbX is an interesting product. They don’t mention any ingredient which is normally a red flag for me. By reading the patent one could guess that it is made of zinc salt of ricinoleic acid, and a solubility promoter including sodium iminodisuccinate, and water.

Some versions of Zorbx are unscented though the patent says they might contain antifungals (which I have had problems with in the past). Not knowing what’s in it and if it contains an antifungal makes me a little wary, however, I go by my own reactions to products.

2. EnviroKlenze is a company that makes many odor-neutralizing sprays made of minerals and metals. They have quite a few formulas but they are all very similar. Folks do report that these work well on some odors and not as well on others.

Their Everyday Odor Eliminator is one of the products that can be used around the house. It contains, magnesium hydroxide/magnesium oxide, zinc oxide and titanium oxide. Titanium oxide is one that I have concerns about breathing in if it does get into dust form.

Essential Oils for the Chemically Sensitive?

Many people with chemical sensitivities don’t tolerate essential oils. Know that this can be an accessibility barrier. If you are selling a house this may not be the best natural air freshener.

If you do tolerate them, you should use a water-free nebulizer (so that you don’t raise humidity too much).

Keep in mind, in attached housing, this affects neighbors (who might be chemically sensitive).

The most tolerable essential oils tend to be vanilla, citrus, as well as peppermint. But individual tolerance varies greatly.

If diffusing is too harsh, you can dilute oils and spray them around the house, or put them on cotton balls in strategic places.

Related Posts:

• Non-toxic alternatives to Febreeze
• Cleaning products for the chemically sensitive
• Removing Febreeze, smoke, and other chemical residues

Corinne Segura is a Building Biologist Practitioner with 7 years of experience helping others create healthy homes. I have lived with environmental sensitivities for most of my life.

For individual help on choosing the best products and materials for you and your home, you can schedule a consultation with me here.

Which natural product you might choose from this list depends on what you want the product to do – give a fragranced smell to the air or to furniture, break down a malodor, freshen up a piece of furniture, clothing or gym bag, or cover up an odor in the air.

These are natural alternatives to air fresheners like Febreeze and Lysol Spray.

This post contains affiliate links. Upon purchase, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Vodka in a Spray Bottle

Pour some vodka into a spray bottle and mist upholstery or fabric lightly to help break down and remove smoke odors, musty odors, and bacterial odors.

You can use it on hard surfaces like furniture and walls as well to help remove smoke odors.

I would use this on sofas, beds, upholstered furniture, and clothing. Test for compatibility.

Natural Enzyme Sprays

Enzyme sprays break down chemicals and odors. These sprays are best known for breaking down and therefore safely eliminating urine and other organic odors.

Earthrated, pictured, has a scented and unscented version (I have used the unscented one).

Liquid-Ate is a brand I use all the time (better priced in Canada than the other brands). This brand has an unscented version and a lightly scented citrus version.

Another enzyme cleaner, Earthworm Spray works well.

Most enzyme sprays have a light essential oil fragrance, and the conventional brands have a chemical fragrance. If you do well with essential oils I would use that version for extra air freshener effect, otherwise, go unscented.

The enzymes do damage some materials since they interact with and break down some sealants. I have seen this damage sealed concrete floors and wood floors that had a natural oil finish.

I use this on furniture, upholstery, beds, rugs, carpet, and in the bathroom.

Natural Mineral Based Sprays

Enviroklenz odor eliminators are all made with magnesium hydroxide/magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, and titanium dioxide.

You can spray this on carpet, rugs, upholstery (test first), clothing that can’t be washed easily like jackets, gym bags, car interiors, mattresses, cabinets, and drawers.

AFM Safecoat has a new product in 2020 called OdorOut. I tested this product in my experiment trying to remove Febreeze and smoke from drywall and it worked quite well. Like Enviroklenz it’s based on natural mineral technology.

You can use it to remove a variety of odors like fire, cigarette and cannabis smoke, urine, food waste odors, mold, and body odors.

You can use it on most porous items.

Essential Oil Based Room Sprays

This might be the most obvious solution, but most essential oils are for adding a pleasant odor, not for breaking down odors. Though citrus can break down some VOC odors, and not just mask them.

Not all folks who are sensitive to chemicals do well with essential oils.

If you do well with some oils it doesn’t mean you will do well with all of them. You will have to try them out yourself.

I do especially well with low doses of citrus, other fruit oils, peppermint, and vanilla. I have horrific reactions to some other oils, especially antimicrobial oils, but not only those.

If it’s your family members or guests who have chemical sensitivities, be sure to ask them which oils if any, they do well with.

ECOS Breeze is an alcohol and essential oil-based room spray. I would use this to add a light fragrance to bathrooms or any room.

Toilet Bowl Sprays

Natural toilet bowl sprays are essential oil-based and they work by providing an oil-based coating on the top of the water on the toilet.

This helps block odors while you use the toilet.

I haven’t tried it, but other folks seem to like it.

Poo-pouri is the best-known brand but there are quite a few to check out now.

For more products that add a natural aroma/scent to a room see the post on non-toxic cleaning products and air fresheners.

Related:

More ways to Remove Fragrance and Smoke from a house

Get rid of new house offgassing odors